“Hey! It’s really cold!”

Xu You exclaimed softly, quickly pulling his hand down.

But her hand was a warm little bundle, and once Xie Ci grabbed it, he didn’t want to let go.

“It’s too icy, hurry up and let me go!”

His fingers felt like they’d been frozen in an icehouse. She found them too cold, and her hand involuntarily curled up as she twisted her wrist trying to break free.

Xie Ci leaned down slightly, looking seriously into her eyes. “Wasn’t it all to help you shape that broken snowman? How can you be so heartless, you little troublemaker?”

“Troublemaker your head, you’re the troublemaker.”

Xie Ci laughed. “Alright then, I’m the troublemaker, and you’re the little cutie, okay?”

He drew out the three words “little cutie” especially long, deliberately raising his tone.

Making Xu You’s face instantly turn red.

“You’re really such a strange person, why do you always like calling people random things?”

She yelled fiercely at Xie Ci, suddenly pulled her hand free, and quickly walked back to her seat.

Back when they sat in front of and behind each other, Fu Xueli used to call her this every day. Between girls it was nothing, but when Xie Ci said it, it took on a different meaning—anyway, it just sounded very awkward.

Xie Ci followed, sitting down in Zheng Xiaolin’s seat.

“What are you doing?” Xu You paused in collecting her books, her eyes glancing over at him.

“Don’t know.” He yawned, as casually indifferent as always.

Xu You was speechless and asked again, “Then why are you sitting here?”

Xie Ci lay his head on the desk, resting it on his arms as he looked at her, asking lazily, “What else can I do besides look at you?”

“…….” She turned her head away, refusing to acknowledge him.

—

This PE class was indoor volleyball.

Fu Xueli had always had poor physical fitness since childhood, and she was a lazy bones who hated getting tired. Taking advantage of the teacher not paying attention, she secretly slipped away to sit on the side.

However, the gymnasium was too stuffy, and feeling uncomfortable, she went to the changing room to get her coat and went outside for some fresh air.

She walked two laps around the playground. The air was very fresh.

Fu Xueli kept her head down, stepping out a long string of footprints in the snow.

Supporting her waist with one hand, she turned around and saw Xu Xingchun following not far behind.

She didn’t know how long he’d been following.

“What are you doing, trying to scare me to death?”

Xu Xingchun stood in place, not speaking.

“Don’t move!” Fu Xueli put her hands behind her back and jogged over.

Her smile was radiant like a flower, momentarily stunning Xu Xingchun.

The next second, a ball of ice was stuffed down the back of his neck.

He frowned, grabbing her wrist.

“I did it on purpose to get revenge.” Fu Xueli huffed, pouting.

Xu Xingchun frowned.

Fu Xueli took off her scarf, pulled down her sweater collar, and pointed to the red mark on her neck. “It’s all your fault. Now I can only wear turtleneck sweaters.”

Then she continued, “You’re treating me worse and worse, Xu Xingchun. I’ve decided to break up with you.”

Xu Xingchun ignored her words, pulling her into his embrace and personally wrapping the scarf around her in circles.

Only when her voice was muffled did he finally stop.

“You’re so delicate.”

Before Xu Xingchun could finish speaking, Fu Xueli angrily patted his back.

He imperceptibly tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Being held in his arms, she momentarily forgot about being angry.

When she remembered, Fu Xueli suddenly looked up, grabbing Xu Xingchun’s hair. “Oh right, I just remembered, I’m still mad.”

“Next time, if you talk to another girl in front of me again—I’m talking about that one from the class next door—if you two chatter away at the classroom door again, just wait for trouble, I’m telling you.”

Fu Xueli was full of anger thinking about this matter.

Xu Xingchun said, “Their class…”

“Stop right there.” Fu Xueli didn’t care, shouting, “Except for me, you’re not allowed to talk to anyone else.”

“Okay.”

She had been quietly pampered by him from age thirteen until now. Living completely freely and willfully, she hadn’t even discovered the kind of dependence carved into her bones.

Her dependence on Xu Xingchun.

—

PE class was almost over, and people gradually returned to the classroom.

Xie Ci was sleeping with his head on the desk next to Xu You.

She was concentrating on working through practice problems until someone passing by quietly reminded her, “Oh my, Xu You, your snowman is about to melt.”

Only then did Xu You look up.

The ugly little snowman still stood at the corner of the desk, and that small area of the desk surface had been soaked by the melted snow.

She put down her pen, gently picked up the little snowman with two fingers, and cupped it in her palm.

It was still snowing outside, and there were few people in the hallway.

Cold wind blew past, and Xu You shrank her neck. She stood on tiptoe, reached her arm through the railing, and placed the snowman in a small corner piled with snow.

The little twig that was the snowman’s arm was a bit crooked. She reached out to straighten it.

After finishing, she turned to go back to the classroom but was stopped by someone.

An unfamiliar male student, quite handsome. Wearing a black jacket in the dead of winter, very tall.

“Hey little student, can you help me out?”

Zeng Qilin looked down, sizing up Xu You.

He thought to himself, why does this girl look so familiar…

“What help?”

Xu You felt uncomfortable being stared at and took a small step to the side.

“Oh.”

Zeng Qilin shifted his gaze, peering into the classroom. “Xie Ci is in your class, right? Can you call him out for me?”

Xie Ci came out of the classroom with sleepy eyes, looked up, and saw Zeng Qilin leaning against the railing making a phone call.

“Get over here.” Zeng Qilin spared him a glance.

Xie Ci braced one hand on the doorframe, ruffled his hair. “Damn, it’s cold. I’m going to get my coat.”

“What’s up?” Xie Ci came out wearing his coat and saw Zeng Qilin had hung up and was standing there like a post.

Before he could react, Zeng Qilin casually grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at him. “You damn…”

If you talked about people Xie Ci had feared since childhood, there really weren’t many. But Zeng Qilin definitely made the list. The two of them had been little devils at home since childhood—big devil leading little devil in mischief, bullying kids their age. When they were even younger, Xie Ci was a year younger than Zeng Qilin, and whenever they got together during holidays, he’d always get bullied by him and take the blame for countless things. Zeng Qilin had studied taekwondo as a child and was first-rate at fighting—anyway, Xie Ci couldn’t beat him and got beaten up quite a bit.

“Damn, are you sick? What did I do to you?” Xie Ci brushed the snow off himself, quite unhappy.

Zeng Qilin scoffed. “Your temper’s gotten pretty big now, you little punk.”

“What do you want?”

“What do you think?”

Zeng Qilin lowered his head and took out a pack of gum, shaking two pieces into his palm. “Yesterday you and your mom again…”

He looked ready for a heart-to-heart chat.

Xie Ci quickly said, “—Stop right there, I don’t have time to have a heart-to-heart with you.”

“Damn.” Zeng Qilin cursed with a laugh. “I’m just asking you, are you going home for your dad’s birthday the day after tomorrow?”

Xie Ci looked down at his phone, not speaking.

Zeng Qilin slapped the back of his head, like scolding a child. “I’m asking you a question, what are you playing on your phone for?”

“Go home my ass.” Xie Ci was impatient, his mouth twisting.

Zeng Qilin clicked his tongue. “Forget it, let’s not talk about that. I’m looking for you about something else.”

“What?”

“Do you still walk that girl from your class home every day?” Zeng Qilin asked, chewing gum somewhat unclearly.

Xie Ci said, “Xu You? Yeah, I walk her home.”

“You don’t need to anymore. Those two have been dealt with.”

“Dealt with is dealt with then.”

“What do you mean? From your tone, you don’t seem to care much?”

Xie Ci made an acknowledging sound.

“You damn…”

Zeng Qilin laughed in exasperation, couldn’t help cursing again. “Go easier when you hit people in the future. Have some restraint, understand? It almost became a matter of life and death. Do you have any sense?”

Just as he was speaking, the history teacher came down from upstairs carrying a laptop.

The history teacher passed by them and said to Xie Ci, “Why aren’t you going in for class? What are you standing here for?”

—

The fifth period was history class. The teacher showed a documentary about the BRICS nations.

The teacher played it at the podium while everyone talked below, making quite a racket.

Anyway, in this kind of class, the teacher wasn’t strict, and students just randomly switched seats, friends gathering together.

Xie Ci had originally wanted to continue sitting next to Xu You, but as soon as he entered the classroom, Fu Xueli had firmly occupied Zheng Xiaolin’s seat.

“What’s going on with you?”

Xie Ci was dissatisfied, settling for second best by sitting in the seat behind Xu You.

“I should be asking you.” Fu Xueli looked at her friend speechlessly, deliberately exposing him. “I really never noticed before how clingy you are.”

Always hanging around Xu You, during class and after class, endlessly.

Xie Ci didn’t know who had said something. After thinking, he casually replied, “If you’re not clingy when dating, are you really being sincere?”

Fu Xueli was stumped. “Wait, who are you dating?”

“The person next to you.”

Xie Ci poked Xu You’s waist.

Xu You was ticklish and dodged, turning around. “What?”

Xie Ci was amused, looking down at her. “I’m your boyfriend, right?”

“You’re not my boyfriend.”

“Then who is your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend!”

“Oh, then you have one now.”

“………”

Xu You’s face was expressionless as she turned her head back around.

Not long after, Xie Ci lay back on the desk to catch up on sleep. Finding it cold, he pulled over the scarf hanging down Xu You’s back and draped one corner in a circle on the desk as a cushion.

Xu You never noticed.

“You You, let me give you a test.”

Xu You’s gaze shifted from her book to look at Fu Xueli. “What test?”

“A test to determine your future partner’s personality type.”

Xu You immediately waved her hands after hearing this.

“Come on, it’s just a few questions, it’ll be quick.” Fu Xueli pleaded.

In the end, she couldn’t resist Fu Xueli’s pestering.

She used a pencil to check off options for those varied questions one by one.

Q: Do you find it very difficult to make decisions?

Q: Do you think you’re dependent on others?

Q: If you had a garden, what flowers would you choose to plant?

………

What kind of questions are these…

Xu You gave the completed test to Fu Xueli.

Finally glancing at the few major types shown in the results section on the paper.

Decadent type, sunny athletic type, humorous type, cold type, romantic type, childish type, world-weary type, harbor type…

Fu Xueli took it, lay on the desk to calculate Xu You’s results, laughing uncontrollably as she calculated.

Seeing her laughing non-stop, Xu You was baffled.

“The results show.”

“What?”

“You actually like Type A guys.”

“Type A? What’s that…”

“The decadent type.”

Xu You was a bit distracted. “I…”

Fu Xueli teased her. “You what?”

Xu You immediately shook her head. “I think it’s a bit inaccurate. If I were to like someone, it should be someone with better physical health, who likes to exercise, more sunny and positive…”

When girls discuss these kinds of things together, sometimes the topics can run wild like an unrestrained horse, getting more and more excessive.

Anyway, the classroom was very noisy, so there was no need to be cautious about what they said.

“Actually, what girls love most in their hearts is the decadent type.” Fu Xueli began to analyze matter-of-factly.

“Um…” Fu Xueli’s mind searched for examples. After thinking for a long time, her eyes lit up, and she said near Xu You’s ear, “Like guys like Xie Ci, for example.”

“Huh?”

“Exactly!”

“He…”

“You just arrived and don’t know, but Xie Ci actually has quite a few people who like him.”

Fu Xueli’s voice was very small. “Don’t you think he’s handsome? That kind of cold, decadent temperament, with a hint of bad boy flavor.”

Xu You was stunned, still in a daze.

Images of Xie Ci came to mind.

Tall and thin, very pale.

Whether hot or cold, he always liked wearing short sleeves. Always wore his jacket loose and baggy, never zipping it up properly.

Always smoking.

Cynical, grinning carelessly when he smiled, a smooth talker.

Fu Xueli suddenly laughed. “Hehe…”

While Xu You was still in a daze, she asked, “You You, in the future will you find a boyfriend from the north or the south?”

“I don’t know… I haven’t thought about it.”

Fu Xueli ruffled her hair. “Find a northern man, they dote on their wives.”

“And… we northern people… all quite like exercise, good physical fitness, good for having children in the future too.”

“Pfft—” Xu You almost spit out.

“Why is it good for having children…”

She didn’t quite understand.

Fu Xueli hadn’t opened her mouth to explain yet.

Xie Ci, who had been lying on the desk sleeping with his eyes closed, finally couldn’t help but curve his lips.

He suddenly lifted his head and said to Fu Xueli, “Hey, you’re pretty bad, Fu Xueli, corrupting innocent kids.”

“Holy crap!”

Fu Xueli jumped in shock, slapping her hand on the desk. “When did you wake up?!”

Xie Ci stood up, leaning casually against the desk behind him, saying with a half-smile, “Right when you were talking about having children.”

“—Pfft.” This time Fu Xueli couldn’t hold it in either and burst out laughing.

Li Xiaoqiang, who was playing cards nearby, turned around and threw a flirtatious look at Xie Ci. “Brother Ci, eavesdropping on girls talking, you’re so naughty.”

Xie Ci casually threw a book at him.

In the noisy atmosphere, Xu You kept her head down the whole time, but those red ear tips revealed the owner’s embarrassed mood at this moment.

She lowered her eyes, pretending to be calm as she looked at the desk surface. After a while, the scarf around her neck was pulled backward.

Xu You turned her head, half-stood up, reached out her arms, trying to snatch back her scarf.

“You’re so annoying!” She was angry.

Xie Ci raised an eyebrow, his tongue pressing against the inside of his cheek, his eyes carrying a certain meaning. “Want me to explain to you why it’s good to have children with us northerners?”

Xu You almost wanted to cover his mouth. She said several times in succession, “I don’t want to, don’t want to, don’t want to!!”

“I insist on telling you.”

She didn’t even care about the scarf anymore, hurriedly covering her ears with both hands.

—-

But it was useless.

The next day during morning self-study, Xu You found a small note on her desk.

Written on it:

Little cutie.

Because we northerners all have very strong sexual desires.